Google has always had a pretty lax set of rules when it comes to the apps on Google Play, but today, they've started removing a number of popular ad blockers from the store.

We've talked about how to block ads in Android before, but that just got slightly more difficult. Popular ad blockers including AdAway, Adfree, and AdBlock Plus, are all gone from the Play Store, with Google citing the following section of their developer agreement:

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4.4 Prohibited Actions. You agree that you will not engage in any activity with the Market, including the development or distribution of Products, that interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or services of any third party including, but not limited to, Android users, Google or any mobile network operator. You may not use customer information obtained from the Market to sell or distribute Products outside of the Market.

Of course, you can always download these apps from other sources and sideload them (we imagine they'll be up on sites like XDA Developers very soon), and AdAway has already put their app up for download on F-Droid. Still, this is a pretty bold move on Google's part, and means that ad blockers will have to do a little more work to get their fix. Of course, for apps that don't require the internet, you can always block those ads with airplane mode, too.